sturt

... at least make it Heinz, for me. Yes, I'm amazed. I said it couldn't be done. I said the Barves ownership was too tight to spend and get that one starting pitcher who would put them over the top. And it's worse that my boys Max and Trae... er... Trea... weren't the difference makers that one would naturally suspect they would be. (Then again, I don't mind that we robbed LAD of a couple of their prospect crown jewels, and hey, who knows, it's not out of the question that Max could return home.) Congrats. And I can't lose this year... either the despised Asterisks or the despised Barves will go home disappointed. (That's how I prefer to look at it.) But I suppose if I had to choose, it's worse to support a franchise that admitted to stealing one championship but that never returned the trophy, nor did any of their players return any rings. And I firmly believe that 2017 HOU shoe on ATL foot, Freddie would have returned his ring. Edge to Barves.

I don't think you're wrong ordinarily... in fact, normally I put the number at 25 games before a team's likely trajectory can be predicted with any confidence. But the reason I've set that aside for the 2021-22 Hawks is that practically all of the team's key parts already have significant time together. To the degree that there is any doubt about players, it's mainly a matter of how much they'll mature, not whether they have plateaued or how much they'll regress. So, it really is exclusively about health from my perspective.

I think this point is probably a novel one to some, if not many, if not most... including our media friends who've taken for granted that Gallo won't be a Hawk next season. It's probable, sure, but as you've suggested, there's a plausible scenario where his agent and Schlenk figure out something longer term.

Ok.

Um. Did I quote the entire post? Didn't mean to. Meant to respond to just this part.

How about this one.... Think we could have our entire starting 5 named "player of the month," and not just 4 like last time? (... DMC I still see you)

While I share your optimism, having had essentially the same opinion even before the first game, the sobriety part points to the same premise that follows some concluding that Cooper should be our back-up PG immediately based on summer league. Give it more than a single game. Hell, we don't even have a great read on how good DAL is going to be--did we beat a quality team, or just one that gets a lot of hype? I recall about this same time last season having beaten the Nets, and there was some of the same vibes that maybe we were significantly better than anyone had comprehended. And we were, but it sure wasn't evident until much later in the season. Marathon. Not a sprint. I'm prepared to go out on a limb and say the Nets and Bucks aren't as good as most media flapping gums seems to imagine, and that we're better than. But/and the issue of health, like it or not, creeps at our door and we know that too well. If we stay healthy, I like us to win 60 games. But I thought that before the DAL game. It did nothing to discourage that optimism, of course, but it did nothing to inflate it, either.

And you could also make the case at this point that all of the Boston Celtics should either retire or be sent to G-League except for Al Horford. Optimism is a good thing. And. Sobriety is a good thing.

Is that to suggest only wings?

Excited to listen to McM talk about how our depth allows guys to not have to pace themselves, but to go all out for all of their minutes. I've dreamed for years, not even kidding, of a roster with this kind of depth for the express purpose of seeing what could be achieved with a legit two-unit rotation, and 10-12 seeing the floor every game instead of 8-9.

Delon will be a fantabulous asset in post season, imo. Love his playoff resume', love it that we've got him in what generally should be considered a given player's prime years, not too old, not too young. I know there's a lot of Cooper optimism, and to some degree I share that, but I would have been eager to work out a year or two of extension with Wright--since Cooper will be dirt cheap anyhow, and LouWill is knocking on the AARP door.

Yeah, I might be actually concerned if he was talking us up as a serious contender. And/but I love that him and others like him will continue to keep that chip on our guys' collective shoulder growing.

Chuck says pump the brakes, y'all....

My guess is that our disconnect has something more to do with this part, my friend. And, that I was working from what we know exclusively. If you have evidence that, indeed, TLC is regarded as that--"superior talent" (or similar term)--by TS, I'm happy to concede that my logic was flawed. Mind you, I'm not like some who are bulldogs and just refuse to ever let anyone think they've been persuaded to a different conclusion... present tense, that is, since yeah, I've been guilty of that at times in the past (but do make a conscious effort these days to aspire to sobriety and humility... aging I suppose has that effect). The new intel that TS/McM expect to give Hunter more minutes at 4 this season, though, really is an important piece, somewhat obviously. Based on that, we now better understand that Hunter effectively is taking that 5th big role... 4th as long as Gallo is sidelined. And to the charge of condescension, I get that, but please know that it's exceedingly less about condescension/disrespect, and rather, practically totally about frustration and, yeah, a contributing perception that it sometimes isn't just about wrestling with logic.

Was actually taking the facetious approach... I see you ...but/and yes, agreed @RandomFan ...so long as both don't become max guys, since it's my understanding the CBA limits you to two of those that you drafted.

Did one of youse guys post this? Because you couldn't be righter.

All I know is that we can't possibly expect to keep all these guys. So, let's sell high... get these guys on the market pronto... who's first, Cam or Dre? Or do we package them both for a real star?

So, you're saying that TS apparently decided he needed another big after all, but just then, decided to fill that role internally? I can buy that. Even last season, 82games says Dre played PF in 5 of his top 10 5-man units, so it's actually nothing new, but perhaps we'll see more of that. Of course, his knee has to cooperate. Played 28 minutes last night, and stating the obvious, played hard.

@benhillboy,,,

So, we're doing both a game thread and a game chat? Hmmm. Okay.

Yeah, that has to be it.